Actor Michael Ealy has recently made a splash in his recurring role on ‘Power Book II: Ghost’– the second series that’s part of STARZ’ Power Universe. Michael Ealy, then known as Michael Brown, was born in D.C. and raised in Montgomery County where he grew up in Silver Spring and graduated from Springbrook High School (later attending the University of Maryland).
Power is a crime drama that aired for six seasons– from 2014 through February of 2020. It was created and produced in part by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and has spawned several associated series, including Power Book II: Ghost, where Michael Ealy is currently playing the role of Detective Don Carter in season four.
A couple years back, reader Mekhi Leftwich sent in some photos of Ealy from his time at White Oak Intermediate School (now White Oak Middle School) on 12201 New Hampshire Avenue, back in 1986, where he attended school prior to moving on to Springbrook (photos below).
White Oak opened in 1962 as a junior high school, but was changed into an intermediate school with only grades seven and eight in 1984, before becoming a middle school when the sixth grade was added in 1990. The school colors when Ealy was there in ‘86 were brown and gold, rather that the blue and white colors the school has today. While living in Montgomery County, Ealy’s mom worked at IBM– which had company facilities in Gaithersburg and Bethesda at the time.
The former Springbrook Blue Devil and White Oak Wildcat had his breakout role in Barbershop, and later starred in 2 Fast 2 Furious, About Last Night, Think Like a Man 1 and 2, The Perfect Guy, and much more. Ealy joins a few other actors who appeared in the original series that are also Montgomery County natives:
Darrell Britt-Gibson (Rolla)
Britt-Gibson played the role of Rolla– one of the many drug dealers who worked with Tommy and Ghost/James St. Patrick. He was mentored by Ghost in the early years while growing up in he drug business. His character was wrongly killed by Ghost after being framed for hiring a hit man to kill Ghost. He was born and raised in Silver Spring and graduated from Blake High School in 2003.
Brandon Victor Dixon (Terry Silver)
Dixon is a Tony-nominated actor from his recent roles as Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar. He played the role of James St. Patrick’s defense attorney, and Tasha St. Patrick’s love interest, Terry Silver. He is killed by Ghost/James St. Patrick after his affair with Tasha St. Patrick is revealed. He is from Gaithersburg, but attended St. Albans School in Washington D.C.
Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Ramona Garrity)
Addai-Robinson played the role of Ramona Garrity– a political strategist for the DNC (Democrat National Committee). She also begins to be a love interest for James St. Patrick/Ghost in the final season of the show. Addai-Robinson was born on January 12, 1980, in London; her mother is from Ghana and her father was a U.S. citizen. She moved to the U.S. when she was 4 and was raised by her mother in Silver Spring, where she graduated from Blair High School in 1998.
